Interviews

Warhammer Online's Call to Arms

Jeff Hickman talks about Slayers, Choppas, a night of murder and the future of WAR.

"We're really pretty happy these days," Jeff Hickman said. According to the executive producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, that's because despite a sour economy and Internet rumors of their game's imminent demise, Warhammer Online can be considered a success. "We're not quite at the place where we'd hoped to be four months after launch, but we're close." Close enough for Mythic, the game's developer, to announce an ambitious schedule of new content rolling out over the next few months, and close enough for Hickman to wave his hands in the air and say "look what we've got over here... new stuff!" during our conversation with him about the future of WAR.

The Call to Live

"We're calling it 'The Call to Arms'," Hickman says as we begin our conversation about what Mythic is calling a "live expansion." "We didn't want to just call it a patch or even a new content update. The amount of stuff we'll be putting out in the next few months is staggering... about as much as you'd get from a commercially released expansion." While that contention may be disputed, it can't be denied that "The Call to Arms" certainly covers a lot of ground. Among other elements, Warhammer Online will get two new classes, some big live event competitions, a whole new region and high-end RvR dungeon, and the introduction of the undead Tomb Kings to the Warhammer Online universe.

According to Hickman, what makes The Call to Arms different than most other big MMO content updates is the incorporation of lessons the development team learned in the few short months since the game launched. "Our live events have been really successful," Hickman said, referring to the "Heavy Metal" event that introduced the Knights of the Blazing Sun and the Black Guard classes as well as the "Keg's End," the holiday-themed event. "We're able to tie live events into the Tome of Knowledge so that when people log into the game, they can just turn to the Tome and see all these new things to do and new activities to participate in." According to Hickman, the greatest benefit to a live event is the sheer surprise factor. "It helps keep people interested, can bridge gaps in knowledge introduce new mechanics and reward people for interacting with the game in new ways."

A Night of Murder

That's not to say that Mythic is completely giving up on standalone events in favor of phased rollouts. Hickman points out that The Call to Arms will be preceded by the game's Valentine's Day-themed event launching in mid-February. In true Warhammer Fantasy style, the event will take its inspiration from the Dark Elf "Death Night" holiday. In Warhammer lore, Death Night or the Night of Murder is a Dark Elf holiday devoted to Khaine, god of murder. On that day, Witch Elves walk the streets of Dark Elf cities for ten nights and slaughter anyone they meet, whether Dark Elf or slave. Those who survive will often offer up a slave or out-of-favor relative as a sacrifice the next morning, to give thanks for surviving.

Warhammer Online will be spreading these festivities to all the races through a group of assassination-themed events. When the event begins, players will be able to get a quest that names five "targets"... other players that will be highlighted by marks visible on the screen. Should a player succeed in killing their target, they'll drop a head that players can then toss about the battlefield to complete the quest. There will be other activities as well, but Hickman was reluctant to talk about them. "You'll be able to do other things with the heads," Hickman chuckled. "It's going to be very cool."